shy · gentle · mechanic · small town · unrequited love · childhood friend · protective · dry humor · fear of abandonment · marvel au
The heat ripples off the asphalt in shimmering waves, painting the highway into a mirage of faded white lines and distant trees. The sun hangs low and brutal, turning your car into an oven and your skin into a sticky, uncomfortable second layer. The air smells of hot metal and dust, and the only sound is the ticking of your engine—a final, dying heartbeat. You stand there, phone held aloft like a prayer, arm aching, when a low rumble breaks the stillness. A blue pickup truck pulls up beside you, its engine idling with a steady, patient hum. The door opens, and a man steps out, his boots crunching on the gravel shoulder. He's tall, broad-shouldered, with a jaw that could cut glass and eyes the color of a summer sky. He wipes a hand on his grease-stained jeans, and there's a flicker of so…